See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

On its face, these words of Paul to the church at Colossae appear to denigrate philosophy. For that reason, this verse has been one of the favorite verses by anti-intellectuals and those opposed to the study of philosophy. Philosophy, they say, is the not just worthless, but dangerous to the Christian faith. This would be a gross misreading of the text, however. We must pay attention to the qualifications Paul made concerning his indictment of philosophy.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Paul qualified the kind of philosophy he had in mind: that which is according to human tradition and the elemental spirits of the world. He was opposed to humanistic philosophy. Philosophy can be divided into two categories. Category 1 are the tools for clear thinking. These tools undergird all rational thought and are required by Christians to comprehend divine revelation. Knowledge of these tools helps us to think better. This was not Paul’s concern. Paul was concerned with the second category of philosophy: the application of those tools to create a system of thought. Even here, Paul wasn’t concerned about building a system of thought per se, but building a system of thought that is based in humanistic thinking rather than God’s truth. We are well aware of many philosophies that contradict the truth and divine revelation. This is due to a misapplication or misuse of the principles of philosophy. This is what Paul is warning against.

Paul is not prohibiting the study of philosophy. Indeed, to avoid being taken captive by humanistic philosophy one must know true philosophy. Indeed, our knowledge of philosophy can even aid us in exposing the errors of bad philosophy. As C. S. Lewis noted, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.”

Keep it in context….

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Humanism can be better understood when considered in the context of the attitudes or perspectives it is normally contrasted against. On the one hand is supernaturalism, descriptive of any belief system which stresses the importance of a supernatural, transcendent domain separate from the natural world in which we live. Belief in gods would be the most common and popular example of this. Quite often this sort of philosophy describes the supernatural as being more “real” or at least more “important” than the natural, and hence as something we should strive for — even if it means denying our human needs, values, and experiences in the here and now.

Jesus was a humanist. Pope Francis has said in a recent speech that humanism and caring for others should be centered on Jesus Christ. At a meeting of the Fifth National Convention of the Italian Church in Florence, Francis said humanism should take its starting point from “the centrality of Jesus,” in whom people discover “the features of the authentic face of man.”

Paul was wrong if he was talking about true philosophy but I believe Paul was not talking about rational thought and clear thinking; I believe Paul was talking about the philosophy of carnival barkers, snake-oil salesmen, soothsayers and sorcerers.

Since the early days Jesus’s ministry began, as noted in the very first verse of John’s Gospel in the 7th chapter, after his early humanist teachings about the dignity, worth and value of human beings and treating their lives with compassion and forgiveness compared to the church leaders whose practice was exclusionary of gentiles and sinners Jesus’s humanism was evident.

Throughout Jesus life he brought hope and dignity to the poor while exposing the evil of religious dogma. Please don’t ever think Jesus was anything more than an ordinary man with extraordinary common sense who put himself in harms way to show that the masses of humanity were worthy: to have their wounds bandaged, the disabled helped, the hungry fed, the homeless clothed; being given love, kindness and hope. The clergy hitherto had nothing but loathing for the masses, blaming their poverty, their sickness, their disabilities on their sins and/or the sins of their fathers.

Christians embrace a shallower version of Jesus. Jesus’s love continues to inspire humanist faith – faith that there is yet some good in this earth, that we can all be redeemed by love, compassion and forgiveness and that we should all choose life and should try to live it fully in a spirit of peace and brotherhood with all mankind.

It makes no difference whether Jesus was born of a virgin or rose bodily from his grave after three days; these are merely meaningless dogmatic talking points and not real. These are signs that the wicked demand because they do not have the heart to see the divine in Jesus and in all of us without such signs. Blessed are those who follow Jesus not having seen and without any need for signs and wonders simply on the strength of his messages and words of praise and promise for pious people.

Jason, hope you don’t mind me placing a suggestion here. I have been enjoying these posts about context, thought I would suggest PS 122:6 to be considered , is it really a command and promise for the NT church? Are we to pray for the city of Jerusalem and then we are to receive a blessing?

Hope you don’t mind me commenting on your question regarding PS 122:6: “Are we to pray for the city of Jerusalem and then we are to receive a blessing?” ** Paragraph 4 is the succinct answer but I embellished my answer with several scriptural references about the mindset of David, the tribes of Israel generally as the “chosen people” and up to and including Jesus himself.

Jerusalem is the symbolic representation of peace so praying for Jerusalem is another way to say praying for peace because “praying” for peace shows a disposition for peace; that is, of one having the mind and attitude of peace.

And those people, not adherents of the NT; AKA, Christians, PS 122:6 is not necessarily speaking.

** It is not because of the prayer of peace for the city of Jerusalem that endows a blessing, a peace-prayer is merely the expression of the peace already within the person uttering the prayer and it is that “peace within you” from where the blessings well up for all people who are of that mindset.

It was the presumption of David that all people who entered the city of peace is of the disposition of peace and it was also his presumption that only the tribes of Israel were capable of having that mindset and for that reason David said in the first verse of chapter
122:
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

It is obvious that David was speaking of the Tribes of Israel when that psalm was written because at that time people outside the tribes were considered aliens as noted in John 4 by the Samaritan woman: 9 “Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Jesus, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.”

Even in Jesus’s day those outside Israel were considered heathen, gentiles and unworthy to receive help as noted by Jesus again when he was approached by a Canaanite woman for help:

26 But he(Jesus) answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Jesus made it clear that he spoke of the tradition of the Jews, not to associate with people outside Israel. That was the same tradition of the Jews at the time of David and since. But I believe that Jesus changed that tradition after the exchange with the Canaanite woman after he insulted her and she in turn humiliated him with the wit and logic of her faith.

So if one clawed back to David’s time to bring forward the “pray for peace of Jerusalem……to apply the blessings only for NT Church members would be a wrong interpretation after Jesus changed the tradition of Isolationism from a message only for the tribes to a message thereafter to everyone within and without about who can take ownership of a peace attitude:

Anybody in the world can reap the blessings that bubble up from a mindset of peace not just the chosen people or NT Church.

John 1:12 “…….as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name……..”

Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”